'And your flying saucer will do better?' Nebe asked sceptically.

'Yes,' Wilson said.

'So far it hasn't even flown,' Kammler said.

'The saucer we've been openly testing is Rudolph Schriever's adaptation of my work. The saucer I'm talking about, the Kugelblitz, is the one we've constructed at Spandau without Schriever's knowledge. We've just tested the new jet engines today and now know it will fly.'

General Nebe, who was a lover of intrigue, leaned forward in his chair to say, 'What's the difference between your saucer and Schriever's? And why haven't you told Schriever about yours?'

'Because I don't trust Himmler,' Wilson said boldly, 'and Schriever is Himmler's man.'

Ernst felt a tremor of fear, but willed himself to show nothing, He caught Kammler's searching glance and looked away, too nervous to meet it.

'We are all Himmler's men,' Nebe said softly.

'Himmler's not the man he once was,' Wilson replied. 'It's rumoured that he sees the end in sight and is starting to crack up ... just like the Fhrer.'

There was a long, dreadful silence, as if everyone was in shock, then Kammler, coughing into his fist, said, 'Continue, American.'

'As you know, it was Himmler's dream to create a colony of SS elite under the ice of Neuschwabenland in the Antarctic and protect it from the world with highly advanced weapons, including my saucer.'

'Yes,' Nebe said, 'we do know.'

'Then you must also know that the first of the underground accommodations has been constructed, that some of the finest SS troops, some scientists, and the necessary slave workers have already been shipped there, and that an escape route has been organized for those of us who wish to avoid imprisonment or even death here in Germany.'

'Yes,' Nebe said, 'we do. And we also know that your flying saucer is supposed to be the ultimate weapon, but now you tell us these stories. I repeat: I want to know about you and Schriever. Why the deception?'

'Because it's my belief that Himmler's forgotten the Antarctic and thinks only of using the saucer to fight the Allied invasion, when it comes.'

'And if, as you say, your saucer works, what's wrong with that?'

Wilson turned his gaze upon Kammler, who had spoken with icy sarcasm. 'Because to stop the invasion we'd need a great number of flying saucers and there's no way we can construct them in time. And that in turn means that if Himmler's paranoia keeps him in Germany, the war, the Antarctic colony, and the saucer will all be lost to the Allies. And then all of us me and Captain Stoll here, you, Brigadier Kammler, and you, General Nebe will undoubtedly be tried as war criminals, found guilty, and hanged.'

There was another uneasy silence, a brief trading of questioning glances, then Kammler, his blue eyes clear beneath the blond hair, said, 'So we make our escape to the Antarctic... with your flying saucer... without Himmler... Which gets us to Schriever.'

'You're a clever man, Brigadier.'

'I don't need your compliments,' Kammler replied. 'Just tell us your plan.'

Awed by Wilson's icy control, but also terrified of where it was leading, Ernst glanced across the large hangar and saw Schriever's saucer on its platform. Yearning for a cigarette but frightened of lighting one, he returned his gaze to the men in the small, spartan office. Kammler and Nebe were an odd couple, one blond and blueeyed, the other dark and unreadable. Wilson, with his silvery-gray hair and lined face, was as unfeeling as stone.

None of these men is truly human, Ernst thought, and I have sold myself to them.

It was a dreadful admission...

'If Himmler gets any worse,' Wilson said, speaking softly, seductively, 'he'll change his mind completely about the Antarctic and refuse to let us go there. He'll want us to make a last stand in Germany

to go down with the Fhrer.'

'Yes,' Nebe said. 'He will.'

'Our first task, then,' Wilson continued, 'is to make him forget Projekt Saucer and turn his attentions elsewhere.'

'Understood,' Kammler said.

Wilson nodded. 'Since for the past couple of years I've only been testing the Schriever saucer which will fly, but not much and letting Schriever take most of the credit for it, Himmler now trusts Schriever more than he trusts me. However, he's already turned away psychologically from the project and instead is pinning most of his hopes on the V-2 rocket program.'

'Which is exactly why he placed me in charge of it,' Kammler noted.

'Correct,' Wilson said. 'Which is all to the good. We can' t trust Schriever, who knows nothing about the Antarctic, so we have to get rid of him while keeping Himmler happy and giving us the freedom to prepare our escape without interference.'

'We are listening,' Nebe said.

Ernst sucked his breath in, feeling tense, and saw Wilson's quick glance. Then, to his amazement, Wilson smiled, almost victoriously, before turning back to Kammler and Nebe.

'The prototype for the real flying saucer,' he said, 'is a small, saucer-shaped, remote-controlled anti-radar device, which I've dubbed the Feuerball because, when it flies, it turns white hot and becomes a ball of fire.'